ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Indiana man who taught federal job applicants and others how to beat lie-detector tests has been sentenced to eight months in prison.

Thirty-four-year-old Chad Dixon, of Marion, Ind., pleaded guilty in December to wire fraud and obstructing a government proceeding with his business, Polygraph Consultants of America.

Federal prosecutors say Dixon taught dozens of people who paid him $1,000 for a day's work.

His lawyer, Nina Ginsberg, said the case appeared to be the first of its kind in the country.

Dixon told the court some of his training amounted to little more than telling people to relax on certain questions, and pinch their abdominal muscles and silently count backward in increments of three on other questions.